Page 96 of Challenged by the Single Dad

He did that before he headed over to Wyatt’s to grab his kid.

“Hey, Dad,” Silas said, hanging over the railing from upstairs. “Griffon and I are just playing with his Hot Wheels up here. Can I sleep over? We built a fort and want to sleep in it.”

“What does Uncle Wyatt say?”

“Uncle Wyatt says it’s fine.”

“Does he?”

“He does,” Wyatt called from the kitchen.

Dom nodded and made his way to the kitchen where Wyatt already had a cracked beer waiting for him.

“Thanks,” Dom said, accepting the beer and immediately taking a sip. “Where’s Vica?” He glanced around, but couldn’t hear or see the fiery Italian anywhere.

“She popped to the store in town. Neededfresh basilfor what she plans to make for dinner.” He shrugged and sipped his beer. “How are you doing? The eggs of the thing that crawled up your ass hatch and escape? Or are they making your colon itchy?”

Dom gave his brother a disgusted look. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Wyatt merely shrugged again and wandered into the living room. “All kinds of things. But I don’t feel like diving into them right now. You and Chloe still …”

“No.”

“Just like that?No?”

“Just like that.”

“I don’t believe it.”

Dom sat down on the couch and sipped his beer. “Well, believe it. We messed up—twice—but now we’re committed to just being friends. It’s too complicated otherwise.” Too complicated. Too awkward. Too … painful. He was absolutely not going to tell his brother about what he just did down at the bar. The shame was still thick like zinc sunscreen on his skin. Wyatt could probably see it. Hell, the astronauts on the space station could probably see it.

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Bullshit.”

Exhaling deep through his nose, Dom cocked his right ankle onto his left knee and leaned back into the soft couch cushions. “I don’t care what you think. That’s the way it is.”

His gut spun at the idea that he and Chloe really were completely done. That was the last thing he wanted, even though he knew it was for the best. The woman had burrowed so deep under his skin, he wasn’t sure he’d ever truly be rid of his feelings for her. And definitely not if she continued working for him and he had to see her every day.

“You still want her,” Wyatt said. “I can see it on your face. You forget that I was in a very similar situation not long ago. So was Clint, so was Bennett. We know the look of a conflicted man in love. We saw it in the mirror, we saw it on each other. And now we see it on you.”

“Yeah, but Vica wasn’t your employee,” Dom shot back. “There was no ethical barrier there. Just like there wasn’t one for Clint or Bennett. It’s not the same.” He swallowed and averted his gaze away from his brother’s judgmental stare. “And furthermore, it feels like I’m che—” His throat caught and he had to clear it a few times as emotion hung sharp and heavy on his tongue, keeping the words from forming.

“Like you’re cheating on Remy,” Wyatt finished for him, nodding in understanding. “I get that.”

Dom swallowed past the painful lump and met his brother’s gaze again. “How did you get past that?”

“Because they’re gone, Dom,” Wyatt said softly and gently. “They’ve been gone five years. And even though there is no timeline on grief and we all mourn in our own way, I was ready. So was Clint, and so was Bennett. Maybe you’re not? And that’s okay. But you need to reassure yourself that it’s not cheating. Remy is gone. You are not married anymore. And you—and your child—deserve happiness. She would want that for both of you.” He cleared his throat and tipped his beer to his lips taking a long pull.

The backs of Dom’s eyes burned and he looked away again. “I haven’t,” he cleared his throat for the umpteenth time, “I haven’t, or I guesshadn’t,been with anybody since Remy. And when it happened, it wasn’t how I expected.”

“Was it bad? Or weird?”

Dom locked eyes with his brother. “No. And that’s what’s so fucked up. The first time I had sex with someone else besides my wife should have been weird, right? It should have felt wrong.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know!” Dom exploded, throwing his empty hand in the air. “Because I wasn’t supposed to be with anyone else. Remy was it. Until death do us part. She wastheone. And I knew that in high school when we first got together. And I knew that the whole time I was in the Marines and we were broken up and dating other people. I knew that eventually we’d find our way back to each other. And we did. And then she—” A hot tear slid down his cheek and he quickly took a sip of his beer, his hand shaking as he brought the bottle to his mouth. “And then she fucking died,” he whispered. Sniffing, he looked away and used the back of his hand to wipe his cheek.

Wyatt was quiet for a moment, giving Dom time to process and collect himself. “Listen to what you just said.”

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